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Crazed NCAA fans bombard Las Vegas every spring for March Madness. Inspired by the energy of this city during this time and his desire to bring Hoyas together, Vegas entertainer and president of the Georgetown University Alumni Club of Las Vegas Jeff Civillico (COL ’05) created an ingenious alumni event. Hoya Madness is a national viewing party for alumni who are neither on campus nor attending the games. Connecting with Hoyas and watching the NCAA tournament is always a great experience, but combining these two things and adding a trip to Las Vegas? Come on — what gets better than that?

The first weekend of the tournament, March 21 through 24, marks the third annual Hoya Madness. However, you don’t have to be an avid basketball fan to enjoy the weekend. Civillico and the Club of Las Vegas have planned an event that doesn’t relate to the sport every night.

The few days are a time for Hoyas to explore Vegas together. The schedule of the games is not announced until a few days before the weekend starts, so event updates will be provided as the weeks go on, and they will get the party weekend started. Participants will have access to bar specials, like free appetizers or 2-for-1 margaritas, the opportunities to tour Vegas in a 40-person limo bus and to see a show on the Vegas strip. There will be game watch parties, which will be either “kegs and eggs” or a night at a bar, catering to the schedule of games. This year, participants will receive a room deal code for The Flamingo Las Vegas Hotel and Casino on the strip. The game watch location is South Point, which is a local scene just away from the buzz on the strip. South Point has a strong history with Georgetown: The owner’s son used to play on the basketball team and the general manager is a Hoya.

The big event of the weekend is the formal University Reception on Saturday night with a guest speaker. In its inaugural year, theology associate professor Otto Hentz came out to support the event as the guest speaker and last year, College Dean Chester Gillis was the guest speaker. Keep your ears open for the announcement of this year’s guest speaker.

Attendance has been going up each year, confirming that this event is one that will be around for years to come. So if you’re not old enough to enjoy the benefits of Vegas yet (you must be 21 years old to participate), start saving your change from your daily coffee and attend next year. Buy your flight and stay tuned for the developing plan of events by logging onto www.hoyamadness.com and signing up for the newsletter.

“Take a leap of faith! Trust us. It will be a good time!” – Jeff Civillico (COL ’05)

In case you haven’t heard, a bunch of Hoyas are flocking to Las Vegas to watch the Hoyas play in the NCAA Tournament, and if that alone isn’t enough to get you to fly out there for it, here’s an Interview about Hoya Madness in Vegas with Jeff Civillico ’05, President of the Georgetown Club of Las Vegas and headline performer on the Vegas Strip.

What is Hoya Madness?

Hoya Madness is a national NCAA tournament viewing party for Georgetown Alumni, hosted by the Club of Las Vegas. The game watch of course is the centerpiece of the weekend, but we’ve created other opportunities for Hoyas to connect this weekend including a St. Patty’s Day party on the Strip, and a University Reception. We want to provide enough structure for Hoyas to be able to meet up, but also respect people’s desires to see all that our great city has to offer while they’re in town.

Why does your club spend all this time, $, and energy to do this event?

It’s Vegas, it’s the NCAAs, and it’s Georgetown.. we don’t see how you can go wrong! Our club wants to bring Hoyas together for the tournament in an unprecedented way on a national scale. We want to build a tradition for Hoyas to come out to Vegas for the first weekend of the NCAAs every year to see old Hoya friends, and make new ones. Obviously our guys fell short last year in game 1.. Yet everybody out here STILLL had a blast. I think that’s a great indicator of how strong this event is. It’s about more than the games.. it’s about building Georgetown community. After the game, we loaded up our limo bus, we went to the Strip, and we had a great night.

What’s the history of the event?

2012 will be our 2nd year for this event. Our inaugural Hoya Madness was a great success, with 200+ Hoyas coming out to Vegas for the weekend. The Alumni Association actually awarded us with “Social Engagement of the Year” at the alumni awards on campus earlier this month which was a big honor.

What’s new for this year?

We’re all very excited about this year’s welcome reception at Eva Longoria’s Nightclub “Eve” at CityCenter, right in the heart of the Strip. We’ve rented out the entire club for our reception. Dean Gillis will be our featured speaker, and we will also have a performance by The Georgetown Chimes. Did we mention $20 gets you open bar?? It’s going to be a fantastic event.

How much does everything cost?

We did our absolute best to keep the prices as low as possible. We are very grateful for the generosity of our club members who have stepped up, sponsored various events for us, and made this possible. The game watch costs $25 and includes a private ballroom for Hoyas, the official 2012 Hoya Madness T-shirt, and rock bottom food and drink. The reception at “Eve” Nightclub costs only $20 and is 3 hours of open bar with light snacks. And the outdoor St. Patty’s Day party on The Strip which includes a VIP line pass, live music, and Guinness beer trucks is only $30. All 3 of these events add up to $75, but we’re knocking $10 off of that price to $65 when you buy all 3.

If you’re not familiar with Vegas during the NCAAs— these prices are insane!! The sports books in Vegas this weekend are mobbed, annoyingly crowded. We get our own ballroom for practically nothing. Getting into a nightclub in Vegas would cost you $50/person, not counting it being a Sat night holiday, or the cost of $11 drinks once you’re in. For us? $20. St. Patty’s Day parties on The Strip?? $100, $200+ For us? $30. We’re really proud of the package deal we were able to put together for Hoyas, and I really hope people take advantage of this great opportunity.

Anything you want to add?

The weekend is not limited to Georgetown alumni only. Bring your friends, bring your family, bring whomever you want.. as long as they don’t show up in a ‘Cuse jersey we’re happy to have them! The more the merrier. Hope to see you out in Vegas, March 15-18. Hoya Saxa!